(TECH DIRT) I’ll have a more detailed look at the Megaupload indictment tomorrow (there are some really ridiculous claims in there, but also some evidence of bad actions on the part of Mega, which isn’t too surprising). However, even if you’re 100% positive that Megaupload was a bad player in the space, you have to question both the timing and the process of completely taking down the site/company the day after practically the entire internet rose up to protest the threat of similar takedowns under SOPA/PIPA. For them not to think the reaction would be fast and furious shows (yet again) just how incredibly, ridiculously, out of touch with the internet the DC establishment is.

Within minutes of the site being shut down, and DOJ releasing its statement, Anonymous sprang into action and started taking down a ton of sites — including websites for the DOJ, the US Copyright Office, Universal Music, the RIAA, the MPAA and a bunch of other sites. They’re apparently still targeting more.

Think of this as the flipside of yesterday’s protests. Yesterday the internet folks went dark to protest things. Today… following the government’s decision to show off its existing censorship powers — mocking yesterday’s protests — it appears that the industry/government supporters of online censorship are going dark involuntarily… in a different form of protest.

What it showed is they knew exactly what the response would be and hoped it would either reinvigorate the congress and executive to go ahead with SOPA and PIPA or to make a good case for ACTA. The Hegelian Dialectic works even when all parties openly involved do not think it could or is working on their particular issue. All it takes is to go out on “anonymous” message boards and rile up a few idiots. One of the down sides to being anonymous is even your enemy can claim he is you. It makes false flag eventseven easier to manage.